Planetary Spectrum Generator: An accurate online radiative transfer suite for atmospheres, comets, small bodies and exoplanets

2018/03/31 by G. L. Villanueva, Geronimo L. Villanueva, G.L. Villanueva +9 · 330 citations
Chemistry · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Engineering · Physics and Astronomy · #Astronomy #Atmospheric Ozone and Climate #Atmospheric radiative transfer codes #Calibration and Measurement Techniques #Exoplanet #Geology #Optics #Physics #Planet #Planetary system #Radiative transfer #Remote sensing #Spectroscopy and Laser Applications #astro-ph.EP

paper · pdf · doi:10.1016/j.jqsrt.2018.05.023

published in Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer 217, 86-104 (Elsevier BV) · Journal of Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiative Transfer, submitted

openalex created_date 2018/03/29 · arxiv created 2018/05/23 · openalex publication_date 2018/05/29 · arxiv updated 2018/06/26 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

We have developed an online radiative-transfer suite (https://psg.gsfc.nasa.gov) applicable to a broad range of planetary objects (e.g., planets, moons, comets, asteroids, TNOs, KBOs, exoplanets). The Planetary Spectrum Generator (PSG) can synthesize planetary spectra (atmospheres and surfaces) for a broad range of wavelengths (UV/Vis/near-IR/IR/far-IR/THz/sub-mm/Radio) from any observatory (e.g., JWST, ALMA, Keck, SOFIA), any orbiter (e.g., ExoMars, Juno), or any lander (e.g., MSL). This is achieved by combining several state-of-the-art radiative transfer models, spectroscopic databases and planetary databases (i.e., climatological and orbital). PSG has a 3D (three-dimensional) orbital calculator for most bodies in the solar system, and all confirmed exoplanets, while the radiative-transfer models can ingest billions of spectral signatures for hundreds of species from several spectroscopic repositories. It integrates the latest radiative-transfer and scattering methods in order to compute high resolution spectra via line-by-line calculations, and utilizes the efficient correlated-k method at moderate resolutions, while for computing cometary spectra, PSG handles non-LTE and LTE excitation processes. PSG includes a realistic noise calculator that integrates several telescope / instrument configurations (e.g., interferometry, coronagraphs) and detector technologies (e.g., CCD, heterodyne detectors, bolometers). Such an integration of advanced spectroscopic methods into an online tool can greatly serve the planetary community, ultimately enabling the retrieval of planetary parameters from remote sensing data, efficient mission planning strategies, interpretation of current and future planetary data, calibration of spectroscopic data, and development of new instrument/spacecraft concepts.

Citations

• A database of optical constants of cosmic dust analogs
• Interannual variability in TES atmospheric observations of Mars during 1999–2003
• An extension of the Bus asteroid taxonomy into the near-infrared

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